Keep Me Close
by Beyond The Horizon
Summary: Reluctantly, Gwen attends an end-of-season party hosted by Geoff. After realizing that her and Geoff are the only two sober contestants, she realizes that this is her first chance to really connect with the party boy since Total Drama Island. Gwen/Geoff.


A cool breeze blew through the air, provoking me to grit my teeth, I stood in front of the front door and looked down at the slightly crumpled piece of paper that I held in my right hand. Geoff had organized a celebration party in honour of the three seasons of Total Drama that we had to endure. I was extremely hesitant in going since I had never been to a real house party and I was slightly intimidated by the fact that I'd be seeing Duncan there. Duncan and I broke up within a week of the show ending and I was still on edge. It had taken a lot of convincing from Geoff to get me to go. I had called him up a week ago planning to tell him upfront that I wasn't attending but after the party boy begged and pleaded for me to go, I couldn't bring myself to break the poor kid's heart. From the sounds of it, the party seemed to be off to a fine start and the sound of club music blasted from the house.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door. _Gwen, what have you gotten yourself into?_ I crossed my arms as another passing autumn chill ran through my body. I was about to call it quits and leave but suddenly the door swung open and Ezekiel stood in the doorway. He was swaying back and forth slowly; he was drunk, no doubt. I couldn't help but laugh at Ezekiel's appearance. The prairie boy had his toque pulled off to one side, his brown hair was a shaggy mess and his hoodie was unzipped, appearing on the verge of falling off. "C-C-Can I help you? I ordered the pizza an hour ago!" Ezekiel was suddenly pushed off to the side and Geoff emerged from the house.

He wore his usual open chested pink shirt accompanied with his signature cowboy hat. I was dressed in a black corset with black skinny jeans and a gold necklace that hung loosely by a chain. I suddenly felt a bit self-conscious and wondered if I should have worn something more casual. He gave me a dazzling smile and shot a glare at Ezekiel who was now retreating back inside.

"Dude, I already told you. Only the host of the party can answer the door." Geoff rolled his eyes and turned his attention to me. "Gwen! I'm glad you made it, bra." He stepped away from the door frame and motioned me to come in. "Come on, the party's just started." I hesitated and started to turn my body away from the house.

"You know, I'm not really sure if I should. It looks like fun but-"

"Nonsense!" Geoff swung his arm around my shoulders and guided me inside his house. Immediately, I was hit with a strong smell of alcohol and another smell I couldn't identify. I crinkled my nose and glanced into the main room. Most of the contestants were in the centre of the dance floor, shouting and screaming their own version of the lyrics to the song currently playing. "This way!" Geoff guided me into the kitchen and shut the door behind him, drowning out some of the music. "So what can I get you to drink?" Geoff leaned on the marble countertop and stared at me, expectantly.

"Um…I'm not really sure." I said. I wasn't overly thirsty and I still wasn't too sure on whether or not I wanted to stay.

"Alright then." Geoff straightened his back and cracked his knuckles. He spun around and opened the refrigerator. "On a scale of one to ten, how drunk are you?"

The question caught me off guard and I raised an eyebrow. "Zero. I haven't had any alcohol this evening."

Geoff turned to face me with a genuinely surprised look on his face. "What? You didn't pre-drink?"

"Was I supposed to?" I asked. "The invitation only mentioned the dance party."

Geoff approached me, shaking his head from side to side. "Gwen, every high schooler knows that it's party protocol to drink before attending a house party."

"I didn't know." I said calmly. I usually only drank when I was with a couple of my friends and I never got to the point of passing out. I was completely unaware that there was such a thing as 'pre-drinking' and I felt slightly foolish in the absence of the knowledge. At least that did explain why so many of the contestants were totally plastered in the main room. I scanned Geoff from top to bottom and crossed my arms, a smirk playing on my lips. "**You** don't seem totally hammered."

Geoff smiled and reached up over my head, grasping two red plastic cups from the cabinet. I was treated to a quick shot of his bare chest but I quickly averted my eyes in embarrassment. There was certainly a reason for keeping his shirt open; the guy had an incredibly fit body and obviously he loved showing it off. I set my thoughts aside after taking into consideration that he was still Bridgette's boyfriend.

Geoff set the cups down and went back to the fridge. "The party host never drinks. It's his job to make sure everyone gets home alright and to make sure no one gets in trouble." He took out a bottle of coke and shut the fridge door with the side of his foot. He returned to the counter and poured the soda into our cups. I ran my hand through my blue tinted hair and leaned onto the counter, eyeing the two cups.

"So it's safe to assume that we're the only two sober people here?"

Geoff laughed and finished pouring the soda. "That would be a fair assumption." He closed the lid and put it back in the fridge. He moved closer to me and took a sip of his soda. I was never a big fan of pop but hey, it was better than the alternative beverage at the party. I moved the cup around in small circles, watching the liquid swish around at the bottom of the cup before taking a drink. The kitchen door swung open and Tyler stumbled in, a red plastic cup in one hand.

"Geoff! This party is rad, bro. I've been dancing with Lindsay for like four hours."

"The party started only an hour ago, Tyler." I said, smiling at the drunken contestant. I heard Geoff snicker on my side. Tyler looked confused for a moment before his eyes grew wide.

"That's right! I completely forgot! Wow, your party is rad, Geoff. Everyone's having a great time. I don't want to leave." Tyler whined slightly, he sounded like a child.

Holding back another fit of laughter, Geoff approached the jock and gave him a pat on the back. "I'm glad you like my party. But guess what? You don't have to leave yet."

"I don't?" Tyler gasped. "You mean I can stay longer? Oh thank you Geoff, you're the greatest!" Tyler gave Geoff a bear hug and blew me a drunken kiss before leaving the room.

Geoff closed the door once more. As soon as it was completely shut, we both burst out laughing. "I don't think I've ever seen Tyler act like that." I said, wiping a few tears from my eyes.

"Poor dude, he's going to have one heck of a hangover tomorrow." Geoff commented, smiling ear to ear. "I wouldn't be surprised if he hooked up with Lindsay."

I smiled and gave him a light poke in the chest. "Yeah but you better watch it. Lindsay might not be the only girl he'd go after. With boys as drunk as these, they'd be making passes at the female closest to them. You better make sure none of them make a move on Bridgette."

Geoff's face fell and he ruffled his blonde hair underneath his cowboy hat. "Actually, Bridge and I broke up a week ago." He voice wavered and his eyes shifted to the kitchen window. "We never really got over that Alejandro incident. The fights came quickly and we decided it was best if we stayed apart." I brought a hand to my mouth and slowly walked over to Geoff. A wave of guilt flooded over me.

"Geoff, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Don't worry about it. You didn't know." Geoff said, giving me a weak smile. "It was probably for the best, you know. All I want is for her to be happy and if I'm unable to accept the fact that she cheated on me, I guess I'll have to move on. "I felt like a total jerk. I've never seen Geoff like this. His mood seemed to suddenly transform as if by magic. I wished that I hadn't said anything in the first place. I leaned on the windowsill and looked out the window with him.

"No, I know what it's like. Duncan and I…we didn't last very long." Geoff gave me a sideways glance which I ignored. I reached over and grabbed my plastic cup. I raised it, a solemn expression on my face. "To our happiness."

Geoff sighed and raised his cup, repeating my words. We gently hit cups and drained what was left of the sodas. Geoff moved his arm around my shoulders and gently rubbed the side of my arm. I leaned my head down in the crane of his neck and we both sat in silence.

My eyes fell down to the kitchen table and a few papers caught my eye. Glancing up to meet Geoff's gaze, I walked over to the table and picked up the papers. As I focused on the pages in front of me, my blue lips stretched slightly on either end. "What's this?" Geoff gave me a questioning look and I extended my arm out to give him the papers. He adjusted his cowboy hat and took the paper from my grasp.

A mass of scribbles were scattered all over the page. One of the scribbles featured some sort of animal with exaggerated ears and flat feet. "Oh yeah, that was our drinking game when people first started to arrive. It was sort of like Pictionary but everyone took a drink whenever someone guessed incorrectly. You can imagine how quickly that happened."

"What's that one supposed to be?"

"I think it was drawn by Heather and it's supposed to be an elephant." I giggled and turned the page around.

"It looks drunk."

"No, it doesn't." He defended. " It's not a very good picture, I'll give you that, but it doesn't look drunk."

I smiled and turned the page so that it was facing the right way. "See? The big mass here is its stomach, that long squiggly tube-like thing is the trunk, the two deflated ovals are the ears and the small circles surrounding it are the bubbles from the alcohol." I leaned over Geoff's body and pointed to the respective body parts as I listed them. Geoff was silent for a second before he started to laugh.

"You're right! Oh my god, you're totally right!" Geoff brought a hand to his face and his laughs rang throughout the kitchen. I started to laugh as well. We both looked like a couple of nut jobs but I did manage to give the situation a lighter mood than what it had been previously. Geoff walked over to the fridge door and moved a magnet on one of the corners to hand the picture up. "We shall call it: 'The Drunk Elephant.'" He moved his arms in a presenting motion which resulted in a giggle from me. Geoff was so over-the-top silly, it was hard to believe that Bridgette had cheated on such a sweet guy.

"Sounds like a good name to me." I agreed. I looked at the party boy and gave him a sheepish smile. "Would you let me use your computer? I need to message my friend." I felt a twinge of guilt but I reassured myself that Geoff and I wouldn't be able to stay like this all night. We couldn't spend all night talking about drunken elephants and as much as I hated to say it, Geoff and I were polar opposites. I was just being a needy party guest, sucking him away from his other guests. He wasn't some babysitter for me. I was only ruining his night.

"Of course!" Geoff grabbed my hand and opened the door to the kitchen. A swirl of colours and sounds overcame me as we pushed through the crowd. I caught sight of Alejandro grabbing Sierra's butt which resulted in a firm slap to the face. I laughed at the sight and turned to Geoff to tell him what I had seen. Out of nowhere, Duncan stepped in front of the two of us. He was holding the typical red plastic cup in one hand and a goofy smile.

"Geoff! There you are, bud! I've been looking everywhere for you! This is one killer party. I wanted to get a chance to dance with one of my best friends." Duncan rambled on.

Geoff gave his friend a friendly smile. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself but listen, Gwen has to use my computer and you're-"

"Gwen?" Duncan moved his head around Geoff and caught my eye. "Gwen! How are you?" He was the last person I wanted to see right now. I wanted to disappear right then and there. Duncan was the reason that I didn't want to go to the party in the first place. I just wanted to leave now.

"Fine." I lied. Duncan nodded and took another swig from his cup.

"I've been great too. I love coming to Geoff's parties. He really knows how to have a wild time. Hey Princess!" Duncan grabbed the arm of Courtney who was passing by and pulled her into a kiss. Geoff and I could only stare in shock. Our mouths both dropped but neither of us could say anything. Duncan and Courtney seemed getting a little too into the kiss and their hands started to roam their bodies. Duncan pulled himself away from Courtney for a minute and pointed at our hands, still locked together. "Are you two going out now? Just warning you, man, Gwen can get a little sensitive." That comment pushed me over the edge. I broke apart from Geoff's hand and bolted upstairs.

"Gwen! Wait!" I heard Geoff's voice behind me but I refused to stop. I went inside the closest room which happened to be his bedroom and shut the door, locking it. "Gwen, come on." Geoff's voice said from the other end.

"Geoff, I appreciate that you want to help but just leave me alone right now." I sat on the bed and brought my knees up to my chest. The tears came down hard and fast. I felt humiliated and totally heartbroken. I couldn't believe that Duncan would do something like that.

I raised my head slightly and took a look around Geoff's room. His room was covered with posters from various bands and music. On his bulletin board, he had a few pictures of him with his friends. They all looked like they were having a great time. One picture caught my eye and after wiping the tears from my face, I managed to stand up and inspect it. There were various pictures from Total Drama that were on the bulletin board but the one that stood out was the one of him and me from first season. I removed the photo and looked at it. What made this one so special was that this photo was the fact that it was the only one that featured him and another person alone. The rest of the photos were group shots and always featured two or three contestants alongside Geoff. _Why would he keep this one?_

A noise diverted my attention to the door. A piece of paper had slid underneath the door. I approached the paper and flipped it over. It was the picture from downstairs except at the top of the page, it was written: "The Drunk Elephant – Part of Gwen and Geoff's Soberific Night during the Total Drama party." I laughed softly and after biting my lip in hesitation, I opened the door. Geoff was standing there, a worried look spread across his face.

"Can I come in?" I nodded and sniffed, trying to stop my flow of tears. We both entered and after Geoff closed the door, we both sat on his bed. "Gwen, I am so sorry about what happened. Duncan was completely out of line. He had no right to say anything."

"I only let you back in because of the picture." I said, smirking. I looked at the picture that lay between my hands and I stood up and moved to the billboard. "I'm sorry that I was snooping but, well, I saw the picture of you and me from Total Drama Island."

Geoff stood up and walked over to admire the picture. "Ah yes, this is my wall of memories. I post the pictures of some of the most memorable moments I've experienced. The one of you and I was difficult to get a hold of. The camera was totally soaked but I wanted to remember my new friend on Total Drama." He took the elephant picture from my hand and pinned it underneath the picture of the two of us. "I think that this has definitely been one memorable night."

I went back over to the bed and lay down, exhaling slowly. "That's for sure." Geoff walked over as well and lay down beside me. We both stared at the ceiling for a bit, just enjoying each other's company. "Geoff?"

"Yeah, bra?"

"Thanks." I rolled over and gave him a peck on the lips. "For everything." I moved in slightly and placed my head on his chest. His steady breathing calmed me down quickly and I felt my eyes droop. Maybe this night didn't go as I had wanted it to, but I wouldn't have changed it for the world.


End file.
